900 gunmen provided to political appointees withdrawn in Pb

On the instructions of the Election Commission, the Punjab government has withdrawn 900 men providing security to chairmen and vice-chairmen of various state-owned boards and corporations and their decision making power.
"After a security review, we have withdrawn 900 gunmen who were providing security to chairmen of boards and corporations," Punjab Additional Director General of Police V K Bhawra said here today.
Bhawra, who is a nodal officer for the state Assembly elections, said a security review of about 400 people was undertaken and a decision was taken to withdraw 900 security guards attached with them.
He said those given Z plus, Z, X and Y security cover were not part of the review.

A total of 1,300 men were guarding them before the decision. Earlier, 300 gunmen were withdrawn by the police, the ADGP said, adding some candidates, including those of AAP, have refused to take security cover.
"Some candidates were not taking security cover. They have voluntarily refused to take security cover. Among them are some AAP candidates," Bhawra said.

Police provides three security personnel to candidate of a recognised political party and two to those of other parties.
Punjab Chief Electoral Officer V K Singh said on the directions of the Election Commission, the state government has withdrawn the executive functioning power from political persons who were appointed as chairman and vice chairmen of boards and corporations.

"The government has ordered that those political appointees who were given the charge of chairmen and vice-chairmen should stop performing executive functions. The job is now being done by administrative secretaries of respective departments. The decision was taken on the directions of the Election Commission," Singh said.
The Election Commission has also directed replacement
of SHOs from other cadres such as PAP.
Nine such officers of Armed Battalions and Intelligence, who were working as SHO, Additional SHO or chowki in-charges have been replaced. Apart from these, seven other SHOs have been replaced based on complaint or recommendation of senior officers, said Bhawra.

They were posted Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Fazilka, he said.
Bhawra said 200 companies of para military forces have arrived in Punjab and they are taking out flag marches in districts as part of confidence building measure.
The drive for depositing licensed arms has been intensified after Model Code of Conduct (MCC) coming into force, he said.
Total 2.96 Lakh weapons (79 per cent) have been deposited so far and the target is to reach 90-95 per cent of licensed weapons, the ADGP said.
He said 502 unlicensed weapons were seized in last three months. Out of these, 348 have been recovered after MCC came into force.

Bhawra said the composite teams of 451 Flying Squads and 504 Static Surveillance Teams are functional throughout the state. These teams along with police recovered worth Rs 23.58 crore of liquor, opium and poppy husk.
With regard to seizure of 160 kg of gold in Mohali, Bhawra said it was the "biggest catch" during polls by the Punjab police.
The central agencies including Income Tax department, Central Excise and Customs have been informed about this incident.
Punjab police yesterday seized 160 kg of raw gold, valued at Rs 21 crore from a vehicle here at Bakharpur Chowk under Sohana police station in Mohali district.